Imperial Zero-G Corps
The Imperial Zero-G Corps also known as Zero-G Soldiers or just Space Soldiers was a military branch within the Helghast Navy. The Space Soldiers were quipped and trained to fight in the vacuum of space. They were known to be one of the most loyal and skillfull Helghan soldiers in the Empire. During the Third Extrasolar War, Zero-G Soldiers were mostly used to capture or destroy enemy vessels. The Empire decided to disband the unit six months after the war as they viewed the Zero-G Armored Suits useless in most cases in space battles and a waste of time and money. History The idea of elite armored soldiers fighting in space is dated back in the 2350s in the Helghast Empire, though there has been some form of combat space soldiers such as low orbit jetpack troopers. There has been few experiments with the space power suit prototypes in the past but all of them were failures until in 2399, a prestigious armor designer named Bruno Vorray created new armor designs that was perfect for the Helghan Navy to make space soldiers. Production started in 2402 for the MK1 and ended in 2414, being replaced by the MKll. However the remanding MK1's was still being used until the end of war. The Najenmik was interested in these Zero-G Armors but the Zero-G Corps could only spare them 1,100 of Zero-G Armor MK 1s in 2406. The Imperial Zero-G Corps was proved to be somewhat useless in the war, since they can only be used in very specific situations. While they did capture and donated some star ships, attacking enemy ships with the Empire's own ships was just more logical and more effective. Six months after the war the unit was disbanded. Equipment First Generation Zero-G Soldiers are protected by the Zero-G Armored Suit MK 1. The Light Zero-G Armored Suit is composed of a multilayer alloy and strong Xenolith in the outer shell of the armor. The Heavy Zero-G Armored Suit has fairly thick titanium alloy in the outer shell. Underneath the thick armored bodysuit is a gel-filled layer. But most importantly is the kinetic energy shielding to protect the user from ship debris or powerful enemy weaponry, however, it conserves a great amount of energy and can easily drain the sheilds if used too often. The focus of the shield is around the visor, as even microscopic debris can shatter the glass in the visor when they are going at high speeds. Thanks to the vacuum sealed propulsion armor, the Space Soldiers can move and fight in space for extended periods. The Light Zero-G Soldiers carried a StA-409 Keyzer that performed well in space as well indoors, the standard grenades, gas grenades, stun grenades, pistol and a combat knife. The Heavies had access to petrusite weaponry, all the grenade types that the Lights had and grenade launchers. Some soldiers of the both classes also had a Heat Blade for CQC. Even though the Zero-G Armored Suit MK 1 was viewed to be an outstanding armor design, it was unfortunately over-engineered. The tech and materials behind it was expensive, the costing of building one was more than any other armor in history in it's time. Because of this (and the fact the Helghast leaders wasn't sure how the armor would perform in war) the Empire could only build a limited number of Zero-G Armored Suit MK 1's, about 2,500 of them were made just before the Third Extrasolar War. Loosing a Zero-G Soldier cost the Empire a great deal during the war, thus the Space Soldiers were only used in very specific situations and because using the Zero-G Armor always requires such awesome experiences, the Imperial Zero-G Corps only had 600 - 1,200 soldiers at a time. The Zero-G Armored Suit MK 1 also has some noticeable disadvantages. Because its a electronics-based armor, its vulnerable to EMP weapons, leaving the Space Soldiers immobile in space. The Heavy Zero-G Armored Suits were very bulky, making fire fights in star ships difficult, and was usually an easy target while Light Zero-G Armored Suits complaints were ironically being too light as many enemy weapons could easily penetrate the armor, though the torso area was well protected. Zero-G Armored Suit MK ll tried to fix some of these issues. The 2nd Zero-G Armor eliminated classes just to make one that could balance it out, keeping the multilayer Xenolith alloy and replaced the large glass visor with a new space combat helmet. This made it more safe to have the kinetic energy shield around the whole body but it was still advised to just activate it around the helmet for energy resumption. It also has a Self-destruct mechanism, for the enemy won't capture the tech but killing the user. This was rarely used to be killed along with the nearby C.C.C. forces. The MK ll was very expensive like the MK 1 for the Empire since they lost allot of MK 1's in the first four years in the war. Though it cost considerable resources in terms of manpower, material and money, the MK ll was able to be made more than it's predecessor, roughly 5,300 in 2414 with multiple companies helping in funding and producing the Zero-G MK ll. Zero-G Armored Suit MK ll also had it's own problems for being rushed into production. The vacuum sealed propulsion systems would fail for some users, leaving to allot of deaths in space. Other rare reports of the kinetic energy shield failing to activate and even jetpacks exploding. Successor Due to the advancement in space suit technology, the Helghan Empire is interested in making space soldiers again in the 2420s. As they believe their space fighters will have more agility and armor protection. They will also be likely renamed be Zero-G Marines. Trivia *The C.C.C. nicknamed them Space Higs. *The Zero-G Soldiers were originally going to be called Zero-G Marines, however the term marine was often associated with the ISA, UCN, and the C.C.C. at the time. *There have been rumors of C.C.C. marines laughing at the Heavy Zero-G Soldiers bumping into walls and one another because of it's bulky design and it's weight. This rumor became a well-known joke from the war during and after. Category:Helghast Empire Category:Corps Category:Defunct